[BroJoeK]

Redmen4ever: "We entered the war with six fleet carriers, two in the Atlantic and four in the Pacific, and soon transferred one from the Atlantic to the Pacific."

Actually, on December 7, 1941 there were seven fleet carriers plus two, in effect, escort carriers.
Of those, in the Pacific:

1. Lexington (CV2) stationed at Pearl arrived near Midway.
   
2. Enterprise (CV6) stationed at Pearl returned from Wake Island.
   
3. Saratoga (CV3) still in San Diego after repairs.
   
4. Obsolescent Langley (CV1) stationed in the Philippines.

In the Atlantic:

1. Ranger (CV4) remained in the Atlantic.
   
2. Long Island (CVE1) escort carrier remained in the Atlantic.
   
3. Yorktown (CV5) transferred to the Pacific, December 30, 1941.
   
4. Hornet (CV8) transferred to the Pacific, March 1942.
   
5. Wasp (CV7) transferred to the Pacific, June 1942.

So, of the US nine carriers on December 7, 1941, seven served in the Pacific and of those, only Enterprise and Saratoga survived the war.

[Redmen4ever]

Thanks.

CV1 effectively an escort. So I didn’t count it.

CV8, Hornet, commissioned October 20th, about six weeks prior to Pearl Harbor. First Mission: the Doolittle Raid. Outfitted with B-24s at Norfolk, and then sent via the Panama Canal to the Pacific. I was thinking of the Hornet as the first new fleet carrier of the war. But, there it is, it was part of the inventory from the start. I should have counted it.

[rmlew]

CV-1 Langley ceased to be an aircraft carrier in 1936. It was converted to a seaplane tender. She was sunk delivering P-40 Warhawaks to the defense of Java.

CV-4 survived World War 2 and was decommissioned in 1946.
1942 was a brutal year for the US Navy and out carriers. We lost Langley in January. A few days later USS Saratoga was torpedoed but survived the aborted mission to save Wake Island. Her sister USS Lexington was sunk at the Battle of the Coral Sea. USS Yorktown was patched up in a few days after damage at the Coarl Sea, but lost at Midway. USS Hornet didn't even survive one year of service and was sunk protecting Guadalcanal. USS Wasp was torpedoed by submarine and lost in the Guadalcanal campaign.
CVE-1 was transfered to the Pacific in early 1942. But in the fall of 1942, all we had was USS Enterprise and USS Long Island. Fortunately, the Japanese Navy and their air service were spent.
People claim that it was our production that defeated Japan. They forget the sacrifices of 1942, which crippled both navies.